Words I have never wrote before- Fishing was very good at Wachusett Reservoir!

I had Friday and Saturday off this week. Friday was was a miserable raw rainy day. I already have a cold from slight hypothermia standing in cold water on Wednesday. So I decided to be smart and stay inside Friday. I guess staying inside beats pneumonia but I was bored out of my mind. No matter the weather on Saturday, I couldn't sit in the house another spring day. I was hoping the wind would die down over night. For over a week I have been trying to go tautog fishing out of my kayak but the wind has either been toostrong, wrong direction, or I had to work.

When I woke up this morning I checked the ocean forecast. Winds were out of the north 16 mph. The ocean was still kicked up from yesterday, so kayaking in the open ocean was out of the question. The inland forecast was about fifty degrees with on and off rain all day. This weather effectively cancels out some of my daytrip ideas such as birding. However, the one place that fishing can be good on a raw day is Wachusett.

Keep in mind that fishing at Wachusett is never "hot and heavy" or "lights out." In my opinion trying to catch lake trout and salmon from shore is the hardest type of fishing I can think of in New England. If you read my blog a lot, you see that I blank most of the time there. I'd bet my next paycheck that at least two out of three people trying to catch lakers and salmon at "the Chu" blank.  Catching deep water lakers and roving salmon from shore is hard, plain and simple.

The weather was right for uping my chances for success. Both salmon and lakers like crappy weather. Salmon cruise just a couple feet under the surface if conditions are right (comfortable water temp, low light). The lakers seem more active, and maybe come a little shallower if it isn't bright and sunny.

I started my day using a shiner under a bobber for salmon and another shiner fished deep with an egg sinker. I rested my rods and sat there. I never expect a fish at the Chu, but I always hope. An hour later, the bobber dropped. I reeled in a salmon! It was only my second landlocked salmon ever. I got it to shore and it kept jumping. Instead of sliding it up the rock I allowed it to keep fighting, jumping over and over. You can see where this is going? Yup the hook popped out. It was a legal size salmon about 16 inches. Not a trophy, but you can imagine how pissed I was I didn't get a picture. Yet watching it jump was fun, so I have mixed emotions.

As I was casting my bobber out again, the deep water rod started bouncing. I was using my

Bad light, and I had my fishing pole in my other hand
but I assure you, that silhouette is a bald eagle

baitrunner reel and the fish pulled line. It kept pulling line, but when I set the hook nothing was there. None the less, two hits in five minutes, and I caught a salmon. That is the hottest action I have ever had there.

After all the excitement I didn't get any hits for an hour. I did have a laker follow my shiner once when I was checking my bait. I watched it come to within three feet of the shoreline, but wouldn't commit. That, in my book, was still pretty exciting. I decided to switch to a Kastmaster spoon for lakers. I have never caught a lake trout on lures, so again, I was not expecting to catch anything. So I as ecstatic three cast later to land a 15 inch laker.

Things went quiet again. I had my bobber drop twice (small salmon?) but didn't catch anything at my spot. So I decided to take a long walk to Bull Rock. This is a big rock that sticks out from a point and has deep water around it. It is a forty minute walk that feels a hell of a lot longer when carrying a bucket of shiners. I stopped at one rocky point to fish a while on my way to Bull Rock. I caught another lake trout on the Kastmaster! It was the same size about fifteen inches. Certainly not a big laker, but for me, this was great getting two on lures.

That laker was my last fish. I didn't get anything at Bull Rock or at the Route 12 Causeway before I left. Still, catching two lakers, a salmon, and having multiple hits felt like an all out blitz at this place. It rained a little while I was there but for the most part it was just overcast and I never got cold. All in all, I made the right choice for a daytrip today. It was fun.

Things to know

If it looks skinny, it was

I caught the salmon on a small shiner fished three feet under the bobber

The lakers were caught on a 5/8 maroon and gold spoon,

Distance matters. I was using seven foot light saltwater rods. My egg sinker was one ounce.